WWDC 2017: The Biggest Announcements

WWDC 2017: The Definitive Timline

- Benjamin Kerry & Gavin Lenaghan

Apple holds its Worldwide Developer’s Conference every year, giving thousands of developers from around the world a chance to meet with Apple engineers and attend workshops and software sessions. Between Monday 5 June and Friday 9 June this year, the WWDC takes place at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California.

In keeping with tradition, Apple began the conference on Monday with a keynote, detailing several big announcements that would set the stage for the remainder of the week. As press invitations were sent out, many were already deliberating about what would be unveiled, with expectations rising high for the latest versions of software macOS and iOS and potentially new hardware products including a Siri smart speaker and a new iPad Pro. These rumors came flooding in, right up until key executives Craig Federighi, Phil Schiller and CEO Tim Cook took to the stage to announce some huge changes. Here are just some of the highlights.

THE HomePod SPEAKER

Rumors had been circulating for some time that Apple would be the next to join the battle for the best smart home speaker, but no one would imagine that it would be set to rival not only the Amazon Echo and Google Home but also the Sonos home entertainment speakers. Apple has dubbed this new device the HomePod, and it uses spatial awareness to tune and better fill the room with sound based on its surrounding space.